Importance of Self-Care

Self-care is a popular topic these days and we may wonder why and what it actually means. Well, self-care is a practice of prioritizing and looking after one's own mental and physical health. Yeah, I know... easier said than done! So, let's break it down and help it become a reality.

There are eight categories of self-care: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, environment, social, and financial.

Physical Self-Care

Physical self-care includes proper nutrition to feed and fuel your body as well as exercise, body movement and sleep. I know these can seem challenging, but I would encourage at least 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (eat a variety of colors), healthy proteins that can include free-range chicken, grassfed and finished beef, wild caught fish, free-range eggs, and organic plant-based proteins if vegetarian. It is also important to limit or omit artificial sugars and oils from our diet. Healthy fats like avocados, cold-pressed olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter or ghee, or tallow are healthier options to cook and eat. 

Exercise can be as simple as a brisk walk a couple times a day, parking at the back of the store and walking the extra steps, following a fitness class or video, or going to the gym to work out. Exercise is easier to accomplish when you have a buddy to hold you accountable and help you accomplish your personal goals. 

Sleep is important to allow our bodies time to rest and recover from the day’s activities Ideally 7-8 hours of sleep is wonderful, but we all live busy lives, so it is important to do our best to get rest. To help improve our ability to get quality and sound rest, it is ideal to put down screens/electronics at least 1, but preferably 2 hours before bedtime. A set routine is also important to allow our bodies time to unwind from the day. Next up, it is best to not eat at least 2 hours before bed, or our bodies spend time trying to digest which results in disrupted sleep.

Mental Self-Care

Mental health and wellness is so important. Unfortunately, many people think of mental health as a negative concept. It is so important to take care of the organ in our body that is ultimately the control center for our entire being. So, let’s talk mental health wellness… The content we put into our minds is very powerful. Self-talk and using positivity will help to “re-write” our minds and allow us to focus on positives. Even when life is so difficult and challenging, there are moments that we can think about and remember the positive feelings that were brought about from those instances and it will help with a positive experience.

Mindfulness is being aware of our internal state and surroundings. Please try to find positive influences in your life, whether it is a friend, classmate, co-parent, partner, mom’s group, church, etc., it is valuable to have others in our lives who will be uplifting and positive when we need their support. As much as I wish life was perfect and all wonderful, the reality is, there are obstacles, setbacks, negative moments and we need positive influences in our lives to support us during these challenges.

Therapy is another way to help with our mental health and wellness. Unfortunately, it seems to have a negative stigma that many in our culture are working hard to combat. Therapy is a wonderful tool to assist with life’s challenges and obstacles. I like to think of therapy as a way for us to learn new skills and ways to process historical situations we have been faced with or will face in the future. Therapy is so important and beneficial to our mental health!

Emotional Self-Care

It is ok to feel emotions! It is ok to cry, be happy, sad, angry, or disappointed. Feelings are a way for our body to express its attitude and state with verbal and non-verbal cues. We may be activated by “triggers”. Triggers can be memories, objects, people or situations that can activate a positive or negative thought, feeling, or emotion. How we respond to the triggers is important. If those triggers bring on negative emotions, we need to try and work through those emotions and thoughts with a counselor. If those triggers bring up positive memories and thoughts than FELL those moments and be thankful for those memories.

We need to express gratitude and try to find positive moments in our life to express gratitude toward. Some days this may feel very difficult, but it truly does help our emotional state if we find those positivity’s.

Journaling is a wonderful tool for us to utilize daily. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy but what it allows us to do is to be intentional in our thoughts for a few minutes. It almost “forces” us to think about moments of gratitude and positivity. When we write down our thoughts it also allows us to go back and read those memories and to see how far we have grown in our emotional and mental self-care areas. I would encourage at least 10 minutes of journaling daily. Its ok to write the negative emotions and frustrations you may be feeling, BUT please try to find at least 3 positive moments from the day before to write down despite the obstacles. Those moments of positively can be as simple as “I took a shower”, “I ate a meal”, “I slept a few hours during the night”. Those moments of positivity you write in your journal do not have to be gigantic moments.

Spiritual Self-Care

Spirituality comes in different forms and thoughts. This is a unique topic, and I am not here to judge you for your thoughts or feelings toward spirituality, but I will encourage you to find some time during your day to meditate in a moment of silence, prayer, Biblical readings, self-help topics, etc. It is so powerful to allow our mind to just sit in solitude.

Some people find they can best connect spiritually by completing a walk in nature, sitting under a tree, enjoying wildlife, or “just being” in the beauty of our earth and being grounded in nature. Feeling nature barefoot also has many wonderful benefits.

Yoga is another form of spirituality. For some they may tie religious components in and for others it allows them a time to stretch, relax, and focus on being in the moment.

Intellectual Self-Care

Our brains are sponges and we are constantly learning. Not only is it important to feed your brain nutrients with diet, but the mind continues to grow and learn so pick up a book or magazine of interest and read. Reading can be very calming for the mind as well but more importantly it keeps the mind sharp and allows for growth.

Hobbies allow us time to do something we enjoy. It is a form of downtime for relaxation and in some cases, hobbies can be calming. I would encourage you to find a hobby that you enjoy and spend some time enjoying yourself. I know as a wife or mother this can sometimes be difficult due to time and focusing on those we take care of, but your personal self-care is so important and hobbies allow you time to enhance your mind and practice self-care.

Environment Self-Care

Our environment will impact our self-care. It is so important for us to feel safe. If you do not feel safe where you are, please reach out for help… a friend, neighbor, healthcare provider, police, or even me! Being in an unsafe situation is very scary and it does not help with growth or self-care.

It is also important to have a clean environment. I am not talking about an immaculate home. I am talking about personal hygiene (even if it is difficult with young children), getting dressed for the day, picking up and throwing away trash and clutter. Cleanliness helps to minimize health hazards, as well as personal hygiene will boost our mind when we have time to get cleaned up and feel better.

Social Self- Care

Oh goodness… this topic is difficult for many, in fact, I think quit a few of us struggle with boundaries and learning to say “no”. It is ok to turn down an offer to do something or to meet somewhere if it is “too much”. It is ok to decline going to a place that activates a “trigger” as we discussed or makes us feel uncomfortable, even if it is a family member. It is ok to put yourself and your needs above someone else’s if you need to set boundaries. Sticking to boundaries is difficult, especially when we have people in our lives who will try to push those boundaries or make us feel like we did something wrong by enforcing our boundary against them.

This is why it is also important to have connections. As we talked about under “Mental self-care” it is so valuable to have connections in our lives. Connections can be friends, neighbors, church members, your children’s friend’s parents, mom’s groups, clubs, etc., but connections allow us to build a relationship with a companion, someone to instill positivity in our lives, someone to hold us accountable, and even share a common hobby with.

Financial Self-Care

Finances are a difficult subject and often a hardship for individuals or families. Some families struggle with debt, single incomes, loss of wages, unemployment, etc., and I know those issues come with their own stressors as well. Today I want to focus on the importance of making a budget and sticking to it. Write out your mandatory bills and what income you have coming in. It is challenging but look at ways you can omit “non-essentials” to hopefully allow you an opportunity to save for emergencies or financial freedom. The very thoughts we don’t like, but even omitting 1 store bought coffee in a single day, could give us approximately $5 more than we had the day before. Each time you think about a coffee that month, put that money to the side and you will see how quickly it adds up. Same with grocery shopping. Shop the perimeter of the store and you will save money. Not only is this a healthier option for you and your family but processed foods can add up quickly. If you don’t believe me, I would encourage you to load the checkout belt with items from the store perimeter first, write down the subtotal and then add the packaged and processed foods and watch how quick your grocery tab will jump.

Self-care is so important for our overall health and wellness. I know these are a lot of tasks and ideas, but I encourage you to take baby steps. Slight changes are more than you were doing previously and that means you are moving in the correct direction. If you ever have additional questions or concerns than I would encourage you to reach out to me and ask for assistance or additional ideas. My goal is for small baby steps forward, be proud of your changes… growth is growth no matter how big or small. You’ve got this!